Improved railway-car coupling



T. B. DORA.

Car Coupling.

Patented Sept. 7, 1869.

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Y. ,`W.\e\ .Sex e. MS t N @Wt we t A. \V 7 a N Inventor.-

\ ntrd' i tate THOMAS B. DGRA, OF

MATTooN, ILLrNoIs.

Letters Patent N 94,5l 9, dated September 7, 1869.

The Schedule referred to in these Letters Patent and making part of the same.

T0 all whom it may concerny Be it known that I, THOMAS B. Dona, of the city Iof Mattoon, in the county of Goles, aml State of Illinois, have invented a new and improved llfethod. of Coupling and Unconpling Railrozul-Oars; and I do hereby declare that the following is a true and exact description thereof, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, and the letters and figures of reference marked thereon.

Figures 1 and 2 are perspective views of my apparatus, (which I denominate seltlcar-couplers,) which may be made of cast or wrought-iron, or a combination of both, which, on meeting, will Vmake a double connection, andsnbserve the uses and purposes herein set forth.

It will be seen that figs. 1 and 2 are complements of each other, and that a skilful artiiicer, from the inspection of one, will readily understand the entire apparatus, in its conjunetive operations, without necessarily referringr to the other.

Drawings a and a' are caps, as seen `in 1 and 2, revolvingon pins as at l) and b.

Drawings d and d are tumbling-blocks, andas their name implies, move up and down .upon their axles, and to'which are attached bars or levers, h and h', by means o f staples. The same principle might be accomplished by any other attaclunents. These bars or levers are qnadrangular; two opposite angular surfaces of the same are lateral, and two superior and inferior, each being furnished at their free and movable ends with a shoulder, as at k and la', upon the upper part near the apex, the ends being conical and somewhat blunt or rounding.

lhe front parts of my apparatus, as at m andm, are concave entrances, oval at thc rim, the concavity converging inward, designed for the reception of the bars or levers, and whether these entrances are made oval, or elliptical, or square, the same result is aimed at, and may be readily accomplished.

The caps a and a constitute the upper parts of the presenting-ends of the apparatus, and are attached by means of pins passing through th'e apparatus from side to side, and are or may be securedl on one side by' heads, and on the other by screws and unt-s, and upon which they move up and down to suit the requirements of their uses. These caps are so adjusted, and their inferior surfaces are so constructed to form a part ofthe entrances, and when at rest form, with the other parts of the entrances, smooth unbroken snrfaces: These caps are furnished with square shoulders on their under sides, which are designed to engage the shoulders of the levers reciprocally. These caps allow a sufficient space between their shoulders and the floor ofthe entrances to admit a free motion of the levers which pass beneath them, but not a sufiicient spaceA for the passage of the shoulders of the levers, unless raised. When the apparatus is connected by means of the shoulders of the caps and levers, they are firmly held in their places by means of verticalshafts, thil lower end of each of which is inserted in the top` of its respective cap, and the upper end of each of which is attached to the top of its respective car by means of a square frame or socket, through which the shaft may freely play up aml down, and iirmly secured in the frame, when locked, by a pin introduced in the frame and shaft, laterally or otherwise. It is further attached to the end of the car and controlled in its action by a spiral spring, which yields to pressure from above or below, and governs the action of thecap in coupling and uneonpling, in the manner which I will now describe.

In the present instance, and for the purpose of illustrating the principle, the spiral spring is inserted above by the end passing through the shaft', it thendeseends, enclosing the shaft in its coil, and is attached below l. f the end heilig passed through the upright piece representing the end of the car, as seen in drawings l and 2, at n, and n. l'Ihe same principle may be accomplished by adj ust-ing the spring between the shaft and the end of the car, or by other modes of adjustment.

When the complementary parts of the apparatus are brought in contact witlf their entrain-,es or mouthpieccs in juxtaposition, the shafts resting in their centres ofmotion pass or glide into the entrances or mouths, the springs allowing the heads ofthe levers to elevate the caps, but when .the heads pass beyond the shoulders, the caps are immediately forced down b v means of the springs or their own Weight, thereby locking the heads of both levers firmly beneath the caps, where they are held by means of an arrangement now to be described. Ihe nncoupling of the couplers is accomplished as follows: At the upper end oft-he `vertical shaft, and on the roof` of the car, a lever is attached by tenon and mort-isc to the top of the shaft, which works upon an upright fulcrnni at a proper distance from the vertical shaft, in order to give the necessary leverage, and the brakesman or operator may elevate or depress the caps by means of this lever, so as tolock or unlock the caps at will; and

when it is desired to leave the 'aps to thc ent 'ances unlocked, the shafts are elevated as herein described,`

and the pins inserted through the frames supporting the shafts at` the top of the cars, and through the shafts pertbrated for that purpose.

I will now further describe the operation and uses of my invention in general. In the coupling and uncoupling oftwo cars, the bars or levers readily glide by each other without interfering, and on their passage into the entrances, lift the caps, which, 'by their own weight, assisted by the spring herein described, suddenly drop, and thus the barsor levers and caps,

by reason of their shoulders, reciprocally engage each other, and are thereby firmly locked up and cannot be exarticulated unless both caps are drawn up by means ot' vertical'shafts herein described, which maybe done by a person on the'top of the cars; and when it is notl intended that a connection shall be made, as in the case of a car standing on a side track, the caps of the same are left suspended, as is also the cap of the presenting-end of the hind'car, and this is accomplished by raising the caps by means of the vertical shafts with"Y their attached'levers, and they are held in this position by pins inserted' through the shafts as already described.

The practical utility of my apparatus is twofold, viz, to couple and unconple cars from their tops, either when in motion or at rest, avoiding the great risk to life and limb to which the ordinary 'methods yof coupling and uncoimling subject the operator; also great-ly increasing the facility with which switching ofi and on may be accomplished, thereby saving much time, labor, and expense.

rlhe levers h and h are perforated transversely for the reception of pins behind the caps, to prevent the said levers from rotating on their sides, in order to insure the greatest success in the act of coupling.

To adapt the coupler to roads not using the same, a clasp-ring, f, a lateral view of which is represented in iig. 3, and an end view by fig. 4, is adjusted to the coupling-shaft in such manner as to' receive and retain the link of the attached car or ears securely.'I The clasp is quadrangular in shape to suit the form of the coupling-shaft, but may be made of any other form to suit requirements, and of any material best suited to the purpose. l

At the angles a and a the clasp is furnished with hinge-joints. At the upper angle, anteriorly, a lip, b, is extended and passes over, forming a right angle with the side from which it is given ofi', and is perforated by two transverse openings for the reception of two staples, c c', attached to the opposite side of the clasp, so that when the apparatus is closed, the lip or projections passes over the opposite side, and the staples pass through the apertures of the lip, completing the clasp. The lip is held in position by the vsliding bar d, which is attached to the same side of the apparatus with' the staples, and is held in its place .by-a staple, e, and regulated in its action by a spring, so that when the clasp is fastened, itis firmly held in its place until unclasped by an operator. Upon the upper front angle, near the end of the clasp, is placed a process, f, passing backward and forming an arc of niuetydegrees. 0n the opposite side ofthe clasp is another process, g, inclining forward, the two being complements of each other, and forming a ring or halt` ring when clasped, snbserving all the purposes of a perfect link or staple.- Themauner of fastening is as follows: The link of the car to be attached is to be hooked over the process f, while unclasped, then the clasp sfastened behind the shoulder of the connecting-bar, and the two processes meeting, form the fastening, and secure the link.

Having thus fully described my invention,

lVhat I claim as new, and desire to secure by Let ters Patent of the United States, is-

l. The combination of the levers h 7l', caps a. a', tumbling-blocks d cl', constructed and operated in the manner and for lthe purpose herein set forth.

2. Thequadrangular or other-formed clasp-ring j, constructed in the manner and for the purpose as described.

T. B. DORA.

\Vitnesses: 4

` J. H. PHiLLrrs,

ALF. HUNTER. 

